E&S/Specialty

The cyclical change in the marketplace no longer tops the list of concerns for W.R. Berkley Chairman and Chief Executive Officer William R. Berkley, who says that while economic activity may have slowed the pace of the market turn, the cycle is indeed changing and prices are rising.

The drought in the United States is expected to cause as much as $68 million in third-quarter crop-insurance losses for ACE, says the companys chief executive.

Some of the world's largest insurers for corporate directors and officers could be on the hook for hundreds of millions of dollars in claims over the next few years to cover legal costs for people caught up in the Libor scandal.

British insurer Lancashire said it expected to return cash to shareholders this year as it reported a 33 percent drop in its quarterly profit, blaming bigger payouts related to the Costa Concordia shipwreck and dwindling investment returns.

Property and casualty insurers are facing catastrophe losses that are at an historic high, which is impeding profitability and growth, but capital levels remain healthy the Financial Stability Oversight Council says in a new report.

The pace at which investors bringing U.S. securities fraud cases are actually recovering money in settlements has fallen to the lowest since laws governing class-action litigation were overhauled in the mid-1990s.